For this week I chose an article covering the continuing
struggle in The Democratic Republic of the Congo. DR Congo has had a long history of civil war and different
rebel groups attempting to gain power over the resource rich East region of the
country. Rebellion was officially
ended in 2009 when Rwandan officials were allowed into DR Congo to arrest the
leader of the Hutu militia. Rwanda arrested the Hutu’s main rival, a Tutsi
named Gen. Nkunda leading to the peace treaty between the government and rebel
groups. Late 2012 and early 2013 saw a new uprising by rebel leaders and the
article talks about the very close deal between the government and one of the
two rebel factions that make up the M23 movement. The article mentions the capital city of Kinshasa and their
agreement to reintegrate into the national army those soldiers that are loyal
to the rebel leader of the M23, Sultani Makenga. Hopefully this agreement will
be the start to the end of the fighting in the region over the many resources
that it has to offer.
The
DR Congo has been a region of constant strife due to a weak national government
and rampant corruption even within its military forces, as we see from the
defection of all those military personnel loyal to the M23 movement. The article does a good job of giving
the overview of the situation with the rebels in DR Congo and talks a lot about
the possibilities moving forward given that these talks seem to signal that
both sides want to reach an agreement to end the fighting soon. DR Congo is a
country rich in resources and they have the propensity to have a good economy
if they can get through the internal strife that seems to be wreaking havoc on
their day to day operations through fighting with rebel groups and a government
that lacks expansive power.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/03/07/us-congo-democratic-rebels-idUSBRE92612M20130307
Steven Harrison
3/9/2013
6:22pm
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